HIO exclusive: Pacioretty to Switzerland, sixth Hab to Europe

Canadiens star forward Max Pacioretty has signed to play his locked-out hockey with Ambri-Piotta of the Swiss A League.Len Redkoles, NHLI via Getty Images

Canadiens star forward Max Pacioretty is headed to Switzerland, having signed to play for coach Kevin Constantine’s Ambri-Piotta squad in the Swiss A League, that country’s elite circuit. The story below, appearing in Monday’s Montreal Gazette, was held until 6 am ET for online publication by agreement with Pacioretty. His new club made its announcement on their website in both Italian and German at the same time.

Pacioretty, 23, joins Habs defencemen Raphael Diaz, with EV Zug, and Yannick Weber, of Geneva-Servette, in that league. He becomes the sixth Canadien to head to Europe; also overseas are centre Tomas Plekanec and defenceman Tomas Kaberle, both with HC Kladno in the Czech Republic; and defenceman Alexei Emelin, who’s in Russia, signed with his old Kontinental Hockey League team, Ak-Bars Kazan.

Below, a few clips from my weekend phone conversation with Pacioretty, who was frantically preparing to leave for Europe while packing up his Connecticut home and closing its sale. He and his wife, Katia, soon are moving to a home they’ve built themselves in the Montreal area.

Canadiens star forward Max Pacioretty is headed to Switzerland, the sixth member of the Habs to thus far sign with a European club during the NHL lockout.

Pacioretty has agreed to terms with Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss A League, the country’s elite circuit.

With Ambri, the 23-year-old native of New Canaan, Conn., will be an opponent of two Swiss-native Habs defencemen – Raphael Diaz, playing for EV Zug, his organization from age 5 to 25 before he joined the Canadiens last season; and Yannick Weber, who is suiting up for Geneva-Servette and on Saturday scored a power-play goal in his team’s 2-1 win over the SCL Tigers.

On Friday, it was announced that Canadiens defenceman Tomas Kaberle would join Habs centreman Tomas Plekanec in the Czech Republic, skating with and for player/owner Jaromir Jagr’s HC Kladno. Kaberle played for Kladno during the 2004-05 NHL lockout, having begun his serious hockey in the organization from 1994-98.

Montreal defenceman Alexei Emelin, meanwhile, returns to the Kontinental Hockey League’s Ak-Bars Kazan, the club for which he played from 2007-11.

Pacioretty will be coached on Ambri-Piotta by Kevin Constantine, who led the San Jose Sharks, Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils through 377 NHL games from 1993-2002.

Constantine, a former goaltender, has a Canadiens connection, having been selected by the Habs in the ninth round of the 1978 entry draft (154th overall). He never played an NHL game.

“(Constantine) called me to tell me their situation – that they haven’t made the playoffs in six or seven years and that they’re not looking for someone who wants to come over on vacation,” Pacioretty said. “I explained to him that I have intentions of helping them win and playing my heart out. I was happy to have that conversation with him.

“Maybe he was feeling me out, to see if I have what it takes to be a member of their team. I guess he liked what he heard. I told him the truth: that I want to go over there and play and work on my game and help them win.”

Pacioretty expects his wife, Katia, to join him in Switzerland shortly after he arrives. The couple were frantically closing the sale of their Connecticut house over the weekend – they’ve built themselves a home in Montreal – in the final hours before he’d fly out.

“We’ve been packing up the past few days and I’m absolutely gassed,” he said.

There were other issues to be considered, as well:

“My dad wondered whether I had to get an international driver’s license,” he said. “In Sweden, I don’t think they wear suits to games. I have no idea about Switzerland. Should I pack suits?”

(Diaz told Pacioretty he was 90-per-cent sure that a suit wouldn’t be necessary, so the latter fell on the side of the other 10 per cent and packed one anyway.)

Not that Pacioretty wears much off the rack these days, having worked ferociously during the offseason to build on the strength and conditioning that took him to a career-best year of 33 goals and 32 assists, his 65 points tops on the Canadiens.

Ben Prentiss, his longtime trainer in Connecticut, marvelled at the player’s work ethic in the gym and on the ice; this was a full summer of training and not the reconstruction of last summer, Pacioretty then recovering from a fractured vertebra and concussion he suffered in March 2011.

“We were able to build on Max’s current strength and increase his power (this summer),” Prentiss said.

Pacioretty emerged from the gym at 219 pounds and a lean-muscle 8.7 per cent body fat.

“Max is as strong as last summer but he’s faster on the ice with a stronger shot and better power because we were able to do more work and less rehab. So this summer, he’s basically more well-rounded and more complete.”

It’s all part of an evolution, Pacioretty says.

“I was able to skate a lot more given that I didn’t finish my season on an injury,” he said. “It’s the same thing every summer, talking about how good shape I’m in. But I think it’s a process. I build off the previous summer and get bigger and stronger because of that.”

Pacioretty won’t soon mistake his Swiss club’s arena for the Bell Centre. His new rink, called Valascia, is open-ended, meaning the venue is partially outdoors. At 1,000 metres above sea level, enough oxygen-thin altitude to sear the lungs, it seats 2,000 with room for 5,000 more in standing room.

“The coach told me the games are pretty wild and I’m excited to be a part of that,” Pacioretty said. “I know it’s a pretty big hockey town. It kind of reminds me of junior. I’m really looking forward to it.”

Alex Schall, Pacioretty’s agent, brokered the deal by working through another agent who largely focuses on Swiss hockey.

“They understand Max’s value to their club,” Schall said of Ambri-Piotta management. “Negotiations weren’t overly difficult … it was more that so many people are trying to go over there right now.

“It was figuring out the hefty insurance bill, how that would be paid, because obviously you have to insure the Canadiens deal Max signed (last month). And it was more sorting through the whole marketplace rather than a difficult specific negotiation.

“It was nothing like negotiation with the Canadiens, I’ll tell you that,” he added with a laugh of the six-year, $27-million extension he got his client from the Habs in mid-August, a deal that kicks in after the coming season.

Schall is aware of the delicate balance between finding a place in Europe for Pacioretty to hone his game shape during the lockout and the risk of injury.

“Of course, we gave that a lot of thought,” he said. “Max is just raring to go and he wants to be sharp when the season does start.

“The other consideration is that it’s very likely that when they do agree to a (CBA) deal, we’re going to have a very concentrated season. I envision them playing 70 games in five months, which means playing three or four games a week the entire NHL season. You want a guy to be well rested, but sitting around doesn’t mean that’s the way to do it.”

For Pacioretty, who’s never set foot in Switzerland, this will be more than a means of playing some quality hockey. It promises to be an unforgettable life experience.

Below: Pacioretty’s new team, which hasn’t made the Swiss A League playoffs the past six seasons, currently sits 10th in the 12-team circuit, one spot up on Raphael Diaz’s EV Zug and nine back of Yannick Weber’s undefeated, league-leading Geneva-Servette:

330 Comments

Let me reiterate. I said NHL hockey. I’ll still watch the European leagues, the Olympics, junior and other minor leagues.

It’s like when I was a Miami Dolphins fan back in the early 70’s and the team got gutted after a number of star players bolted to the WFL. I started watching NCAA football and then the CFL. I only started watching the Super Bowl in parts of the last decade because it was only recently that the Super Bowl hasn’t been decided by half time.

As far as the NHL is concerned, I mean it. The NHL is toast in my eyes. A tainted aberration. A cheap snake oil salesman’s gimmick crying out for a sucker born every minute. Every moment that I talk hockey whether here in Montreal or virtually on the InterWebs, whether in English or in French, I am going to slam the NHL game. I am going to deride it. Both eloquently and forcefully. Until I have dared enough people to consciously realize and admit what they themselves have been repressing.

Surprised there`s no article here about the battle of Quebec barn storming tour the players are discussing right now. Players from Montreal vs players from Quebec City in a 5 on 5 tourney seems to be the format, with a few others being invited such as Price and Crosby because they’ve played in the area long enough to be honourary members.

Some of the players will include Bruno Gervais and Maxime Talbot (in picture) as well as Darche, Desharnais, Fleury, Josh Gorges, Derick Brassard and Daniel Briere. This morning it was announced that we can probably expect Carey Price as well.

Tickets will be $20 at the door, and I can tell you that if I don’t get there by 3pm, there’ll be no room.

Too bad I gave up coaching and directing a few years back. The man responsible for it, Yvon Bouchard (in picture, far right) and I don’t really like each other.

And here’s a more complete run-down of the players who will be on the ice:

Well, I stumbled into a back alley in Amsterdam about two weeks ago and I have just now managed to find my way back… oh the things I saw and thought I saw. Whew… Anyone seen Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas?? Makes more sense now…

Anyway, what did I miss?

I see a few avatars have changed.

Kempie’s reminds me of my favorite image of my ex-girlfriend… she was the reason I disabled my clap on lights… it was like a strobe light in one of the haunted houses in Niagara Falls when she got up to a good speed… Gahhhh.

There’s a commissioner who’s told
That the teams are all sold
And he’s buying what he wants, with his eight mil.

When Fehr gets there he knows, the arenas all closed
With a word Bettman bullies who he chose.
Ooh, ooh, and he’s locking out players on his own.

There’s a blog on the net, can’t be by hockey’s old vets
‘Cause the fans know Bettman speaks two meanings.
On a rink not yet froze, dressed-up kids start to sing,
Sometimes all of our wishes are for nothing.
Ooh, it makes me wonder
Ooh, it makes me wonder

There’s a feeling I get, when I look to the net
And my spirit is crying for hockey.
In my dreams I have seen, and handshakes through smoke screens,
And the voices of tweeters not happy.
Ooh, it makes me wonder,
Ooh, it really makes me ponder.

And it’s whispered that soon, all the hockey is doomed
Then the players will tweet without reason.
And a new game will dawn with sub refs who live on
And Goodell will echo with laughter

If there’s a blank spot on your scorecard, don’t be alarmed now,
It’s just the result of no discussions.
Yes there are two paths they can take now, but for the true fan
There’s still time to change the sport you want.
And it makes me ponder….

My frustration’s simmering and it won’t go, as you all know,
The player’s asking us to join him
Hey Bettman can you hear the fans go, and did you know
Your owner’s mandate of greed can blow.

And as we wait for the game to start
Neither side will do their part.
There go the players all aglow
Who play beyond and love to show
How hockey still rules when in the know.
And if you blog really hard
The game will come to you at last.
When not locked-out in hockey land
To see the game and not his hand.

Smarm-visaged Gary hath smooth’d his wrinkled suit;
And now, instead of mounting arena seats
To fright the souls of paying fans,
He capers nimbly in a lawyer’s chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.

Phil C, in his reply, sums up the (erroneous) viewpoint of hockey fans, “Profit is a necessary pre-requisite to a business. It should not be the goal.” I have a feeling this statement is driving the support for the players this time out, somehow.

The only goal of business is, and should ever be, profit. Not saving the world, not helping one’s neighbours, not keeping hockey fans entertained when PROFITS aren’t flowing happily.

You want to balance that with humanity? That’s what government regulations are for. Blaming businessmen for using legal business tactics is like blaming a GM for making offer sheets. It’s pointless.

Right now, the only ones getting anything good are unprofitable NHL franchise owners who aren’t taking on losses yet this year, and fairweather-union players who’ve ditched for Europe or the KHL and the damned the mess and everyone in it. Frankly, good for them!

I respect your opinion as it represents how many businessmen approach a business.

I just think businesses should aspire to loftier goals than just profit. Just as individuals can chose to be completely selfish or to contribute to society, corporations can chose to be socially responsible. It’s not just me, Industry Canada promotes greater social responsibility for corporations. http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/csr-rse.nsf/eng/home

In the end, I think chasing profits is a false god that ends in corruption. If the NHL did a better job looking after the game and developing it from the grassroots, profitability would not be an issue.

The best recent example I can think of is Westjet. They are one of the few consistently profitable airlines in the world. Yet when thousands were stranded over the Christmas holiday due to weather, they chose to charter extra airplanes to get everyone home for Christmas. Because the delay was weather related, they had no legal obligation to get people home faster, yet they chose to spend $2M. Other airlines like Air Canada were not going beyond their legal obligations so there was no market pressure to act. They did it because they felt it was their job to get people home for Christmas. They put providing a service before profit.

I like businesses like Westjet more than the NHL, but to each his own.

I should have said, Phil, and made it clear that I respect your way of thinking about business. The ideal of compassionate capitalism is a noble thing. I shouldn’t come down so hard; I can’t in any way dispute that the Gordon Geckos of this world DO create a world that ends in corruption. Absolutely true.

I’m reacting badly to the general opinion that the owners owe the fans of the game something, and I don’t mean to imply that actions like what the Westjets of the world do are somehow wrong or foolish. I agree that treating people fairly is often good business, too.

I would like disgruntled fans of the game, and above all the spoiled children who (won’t ) play it (for less than 57% percent of the profits) to simply remember that business people don’t owe them anything. I can’t imagine the attitude that goes into the thinking – that somehow the 30 NHL owners, who put this show on each year, more than a few at a person a personal loss – that breeds nothing but contempt.

For context, as a Jets fan, I’ve heard the crowd yell “True North” extra loud during anthems. And it’s for the group who worked so darn hard to bring a team here (starting with the AHL) after GB and co. decided the desert would be a better market (!!)

It would be unthinkable, and extremely hypocritical now, for a single NHL hockey fan in the city of Winnipeg to suddenly call out the fantastic ownership group who’ve worked so hard and spent plenty of their own dough to put a franchise back here.

Now, sports fans in WPG are, as a mass, pretty despicable, so I do kinda expect unthinkable hypocrisy. This place epitomizes small-town crab-bucket thinking. But I really, really was hoping that fans of the game elsewhere might consider that they are in big cities, and yelling ‘screw the richest guys!’ is, at least, a bit gauche. Or at the very least recognize that the 22 year olds who are gearing up to flush the season are every bit to blame as the NHL BoG. But that isn’t happening. So, ya get my rants and it’s all in good fun. Honest!

Thanks for that Burly.
“Bet this deal gets done. But that the scars don’t heal quickly.”
It seems that Edmonton is always trying to recover from old wounds.
(i.e. Pocklington and cie)
For a small market, they certainly draw big ire.

I echo HH’s sentiments, but also Jim’s. I’m effing sick of Bettman and what he’s done to the league, but I don’t have any way of protesting without denying myself what I really want.

It’s like being angry with your favourite bar for changing the decor. The staff you love is still the same, the beers you love are still the same, the regulars -who you alternatively love and hate- are still the same, and you’ll get used to the new decor. All you want to do is go there, and although staying away will ‘punish’ those responsible for your discontent, you’ll be the one hurting more.

Eugh.

The problem is that it’s the owners’ interests which are being served here, and they are the ones who keep Bettman in work.

What if for starters we just put ads on the referees jerseys and gave all of it to the players, while splitting the rest 50/50. Companies like Bodog or Bet365 would be all over this opportunity, perhaps even some of the larger Casinos in Vegas would use this an opportunity to advertise when Penn & Teller are doing their next show.

Awful idea. The Euro teams look like shite.
-edit- It’s bad enough the Reebok stuck its ugly logo on all NHL jerseys. Less is more. The less ads, the more the team logo looks better. (Excepting Ottawa- wtf were they thinking?)

No. Not for 1 second will I ever accept any ads on jerseys, excepting the team logo itself.
The league floated this idea a while ago. The response was overwhelmingly against it. You ever see the teams in the Spengler Cup? The players look like jesters, for crying out loud.

I never thought I’d say this but I can’t stand NHL hockey anymore. The sport has been tainted. It’s rotten. The Bettman era is a disaster and I refuse to watch NHL until Bettman is gone. The removal of the red line, the instigator rule, the crappy officiating, the collusion, the gag rules, the failed sun belt strategy. It’s all turning my stomach.

They can settle tomorrow for all I care. Until Bettman’s gone I wont participate in this fiasco.

I read that while mimicking Schwarzenegger’s voice from the Terminator movie. I can picture the NHL making a commercial directed to fans with Bettman dressed like Ah-nuld – sunglasses and all – saying, “You’ll be back!”.

HH I could not agree with your thoughts more. I wish I had your strength and resolve as I would join your protest. Problem is I don’t i will be back the minute the puck drops. In spite of Bettman and all the other issues you correctly point out. I am an addict .
———————————–

While I agree with your despisement of Bettman and most of his management stylings, I am a huge fan of the game of hockey. And until another league usurps the NHL permanently of its best talent, I will continue to watch the NHL as it provides the best talent, the best rivalries and it also includes my Habs.

I am happy with the changes Geoff Molson has made to the club, while not chagrined with the choice MB made in MT I can see the merits in the decision and I like the development of our young talent blended with some newfound grit.

I will be back to watching, but would never object to Bettman floating down the Hudson river. (on a raft of course 😉 )

Think of it like a successful TV series that every few year looks to extend its run by developing a new and controversial story lines…one year it’s violence, mayhem, disrespect and collusion that brings home the Cup… another year it’s concussions, head shots and long term disability that boosts the ratings… yet another year and a new sheriff is appointed to clean up the town but proves to be no better than his predecessors…mix in a healthy dose of labour disputes and you got yourself some riveting, Emmy worthy TV.

It has all the high comedy of M.A.S.H. and Seinfeld, the drama and intrigue of The West Wing and Games of Thrones…all that’s missing is the laugh track.

Money-losing Phoenix, which has so few fans and so few dollars that the league had to buy it outright to keep it from collapsing in a heap, absolutely cannot move to Quebec City, because it wouldn’t be fair to the seven fans who bought a ticket last year.

But the profitable and storied Oilers, beloved by long-suffering Edmontonians who nonetheless support their bottom-feeding team with good money for tickets and merchandise, can threaten to move their five Stanley Cup banners to Seattle because they want a new building, without so much as a peep from the league?

If this turns out to be anything more than a billionaire’s huffing and puffing, this league will be even further gone than I thought, and any pretense that Bettman doesn’t favour U.S. markets over Canadian ones will be exposed as bunk.

Mike Boone: “With Gainey at my side, I’d walk into any dark alley in the world.”

It seems to me it’s some sort of posturing from the Oilers management, like a bargaining ploy to try to get what they want from Edmonton.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t there a big relocation fee a team has to pay if they change city in the NHL?
With the way they are trying to save Phoenix I think the NHL might even be thinking of expansion, what with Seattle, Kansas City, Québec and Markham vying for a team, I could see them trying to get to 32 teams, and 4 divisions.

I have never taken the stream from computer and put it on my TV (wow that can really be interpreted differently lol ) anyways, I have never done this since most streams even on the computer aren’t very good. Maybe if this site provides a decent quality picture I will consider it, specifically for away games. Kooch, lets make a point of seeing a few Dogs games this year Bud!

I will let you know how the streams are Burly. Hopefully they are good but I would imagine your own internet connection would be important in this as well.

I am 100% up for a few games live this year. We have to go to Chester’s world of Beers while we are there is well. They have a beer menu done by country. Always a good time. I think I am going to head to the Dogs vs Marlies game on October 19th